OSU Swept by Baylor

Photo Attribution: Nebugeater

by: Anthony Slater

The Oklahoma State baseball team got swept in Waco this weekend, losing three disheartening games to #18 Baylor by a combined five runs. Click here for a more detailed recap of the weekend’s series. Below is a quick capsule of the rough road trip:

Positives

No doubt about it. This is the lowest point of OSU’s disappointing season. A wasted weekend in Waco puts their conference record at a Big 12-worst 1-5 and further reduces interest in a withering program.

But, if you take anything positive from an empty series, it’s how slim the difference was. Oklahoma State played pretty decent, but couldn’t close. In three games, the Cowboys actually outhit Baylor 31-30.

Negatives

Those positives directly tie into the negatives. They played well, stuck with a red-hot ranked team on the road (Baylor in now 9-0 in the Big 12) and came up with nothing. No reason the Cowboys should have been swept. In fact, they probably should have won the series. But they have been terrible in close games. Twice, OSU blew three-run leads. On multiple occasions, they missed opportunities to break the game open. Countless times, they made a baserunning mistake, caught a bad break or made an error that cost them the game and eventually the series.

And that’s the problem. It’s a team playing below its talent level. Correctable, but it better be soon.

Up next

Oklahoma State is 12-3 at home, but 2-11 on the road. That’s an interesting route to a 14-14 record. Fortunately for them, the Cowboys have a comfortable homestand coming up this week. They get Wichita State in a winnable game Tuesday before Kansas comes in for a weekend series.

The Jayhawks series is crucial. OSU sits at the bottom of the Big 12 with a 1-5 conference record. The Jayhawks are seventh with a 2-4 mark. Eight of the nine teams make the Big 12 tournament. This is about postseason jostling. Talent-wise, OSU is capable of winning, and even sweeping, the series. But, as evidenced this past weekend, the Cowboys can find ways to play under their capabilities.